About Us
CRC 392 - Molecular Evolution in Prebiotic Environments multi- and cross-disciplinary network, in the long-term, aiming to experimentally demonstrate a cascade of mechanisms creating robust Darwinian evolution and the first sequence information of life from molecules in a prebiotic setting. This collaborative effort is funded by German Research Foundation (DFG) and brings together several traditionally stand-alone disciplines: astrophysics, biochemistry, biophysics, chemistry, geosciences and theoretical physics as well as several renowned German universities and institutions: LMU Munich, TUM, Augsburg University, Heidelberg University, JMU Würzburg, MPI of Biochemistry, TU Dortmund, and University of Stuttgart.
We aim to answering the following key questions over the course of the CRC:
- What chemical, physical, and geological constraints are required to trigger the molecular evolution of RNA to create and maintain the first genetic information of biochemistry?
- What are the primitive selection pressures that establish molecular evolution through a pool of sequences and provide a transition from prebiotic chemistry to Darwinian evolution?
- Can we extrapolate from prebiotic evolution to novel biotechnological approaches that run molecular evolution autonomously in a synthetic system?
- Can our experiments define the requirements for early life on other planets?
The doctoral candidates working the CRC projects are connected through the Graduate Program designed to assist both the doctoral candidates and the PIs in getting familiar with the often complex and multi-faceted details of the Origins of Life field. This effort includes a student-driven public outreach in collaboration with the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
